A Stepford setting fit for the GOP

Senator Katie Britt staged her rebuttal to President Biden’s State of the Union (SOTU) address from her kitchen. No doubt, she thought this was divinely inspired—a perfect setting to serve up GOP platitudes about kitchen-table issues.

And oh, what a kitchen it was! Except that the perfect blend of beige exaggerated her theatrical performance to the point of SNL parody. And you can bet millions will tune in on Saturday night for its take.

Republicans and Democrats can’t even agree on the importance of democratic values these days. But they found common ground in dismissing Britt’s rebuttal as a dystopian farce.

My take is that the setting reduced Britt from senator to low-budget cooking show host. And her tone evoked Aunt Lydia, the infamous madam in The Handmaid’s Tale.

The GOP ‘woman problem’ dramatized

But this isn’t about her kitchen or tone. It’s about the MAGA filter bubble Republicans live in, which is a surreal pantomiming of the 1950s.

That bubble explains the GOP thinking American women would see themselves in Britt’s Stepford-esque setup. In reality, it was less “everywoman” and more “every GOP strategist’s fantasy.”

That’s why Britt’s performance did not aim to reflect who American women are. It aimed to project what Republicans would like American women to become, namely housewives who make Stepford Wives look liberated. And she nailed it.

GOP Stepford Wives and Handmaids

I cannot overstate the parody. Britt’s dramatic points and pauses didn’t just feel out of place; they felt like a rehearsal for a role in the “Real Stepford Wives of the GOP.”

Of course, allusions to The Handmaid’s Tale are equally apt. And it’s no coincidence that all autocrats are calling for women to perform the quintessential Handmaid’s duty: have more babies.

The alacrity with which Republicans corrected their IVF miscarriage betrayed their intent to have their wannabe autocrat, Donald Trump, call on American women to do the same. Because the American woman should be barefoot and pregnant.

Ironically, President Biden’s address and Senator Britt’s rebuttal were triumphs of style over substance. Even Republicans are begrudgingly hailing Biden’s fiery style, while everyone is gleefully ridiculing Britt’s matronly style. The substance in both cases hardly mattered.

Again, Britt did a great job of showing America what the GOP has in store for women after stripping them of all bodily autonomy and civil rights. But the MAGA version of womanhood she championed is as outdated as her kitchen decor.

Women told Republicans at the ballot box in 2018, 2020, and 2022 that they have no interest in living as Trump’s handmaids. And, as Biden intoned in his address last night, women will tell them again in 2024.

Biden certainly delivered. But, for this ice cream sundae lover, Britt’s performance must have been the cherry on top.